John Kricfalusi

For groundbreaking "Ren & Stimpy" creator John Kricfalusi, cartoons are magic. "Anything you can think up you can draw," the Ottawa-based animator says. "If you can draw it, you should draw it. If it is something that could never happen in real life, draw it because in that medium you can do it better than in any other medium."

For groundbreaking "Ren & Stimpy" creator John Kricfalusi, cartoons are magic. "Anything you can think up you can draw," the Ottawa-based animator says. "If you can draw it, you should draw it. If it is something that could never happen in real life, draw it because in that medium you can do it better than in any other medium."

Hey, there! It's Yogi Bear--in an art film, no less. Cartoon Network revives Jellystone Park's animated denizens Friday in a prime-time two-part special, "Boo Boo Runs Wild" and "A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith," that's as audacious as it is genuinely riveting. The show corrals the cartoon icons created by the late William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and now owned by Time Warner into the oeuvre of eccentric animator John Kricfalusi and his Spumco Studio.

POP/ROCK * Alcohol, Cocaine Found in Aaliyah Pilot's System The Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation announced Tuesday that Luis Antonio Morales, pilot of the doomed flight that killed singer-actress Aaliyah last summer, had cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time the plane went down. Authorities are still trying to determine the extent to which those substances--revealed in an autopsy and subsequent toxicology tests--influenced his flight skills.

When the cable TV channel Nickelodeon set out three years ago to build an original library of children's cartoons, it did so by breaking from tradition and hiring single animators with a personal vision rather than large studios where cartoons are factory produced. But one animator's vision, independent attitude and exacting work habits wound up being a little more than Nickelodeon bargained for.

The Nickelodeon cable-TV channel confirmed Friday that it has fired John Kricfalusi as producer and director of his cult cartoon creation, "The Ren & Stimpy Show," and replaced him with his former partner, Bob Camp. Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom International Inc., will form an animation studio in Los Angeles to continue producing the series.

POP/ROCK * Alcohol, Cocaine Found in Aaliyah Pilot's System The Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation announced Tuesday that Luis Antonio Morales, pilot of the doomed flight that killed singer-actress Aaliyah last summer, had cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time the plane went down. Authorities are still trying to determine the extent to which those substances--revealed in an autopsy and subsequent toxicology tests--influenced his flight skills.

John Kricfalusi doesn't seem to be the type of guy meant to work for a big entertainment conglomerate. He's often said--bragged, even--that he's been fired from nearly every major animation studio in town. The enfant terrible of animation, he was even forced off "Ren & Stimpy," the cult-hit program he created for Nickelodeon. But now Kricfalusi has the perfect outlet: the World Wide Web. "I've had the idea for years to do animation on the Web," Kricfalusi said. "Free distribution.

Is the world ready for Jimmy the Idiot Boy? Jimmy, it seems, lives in a chicken coop behind the home of his uncle, who lets Jimmy out on occasion to learn how to "be a man." An unlikely sounding concept for a cartoon, perhaps, but bear in mind that Jimmy's creator also took an irascible Chihuahua and a dim, bloated cat to cult status, ratings success and, eventually, full-blown pop phenomenon.

Behind the thick-framed black glasses, the salt-and-pepper beard and the shock of swept-back hair, John Kricfalusi has the rugged, squared-off looks of his idol, Kirk Douglas. On a bookshelf in Kricfalusi's Melrose office sits a signed photo of Douglas in his gladiator outfit from "Spartacus," along with a bust of the man Kricfalusi reveres as "one of the most subtle actors in Hollywood."

Hey, there! It's Yogi Bear--in an art film, no less. Cartoon Network revives Jellystone Park's animated denizens Friday in a prime-time two-part special, "Boo Boo Runs Wild" and "A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith," that's as audacious as it is genuinely riveting. The show corrals the cartoon icons created by the late William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and now owned by Time Warner into the oeuvre of eccentric animator John Kricfalusi and his Spumco Studio.

John Kricfalusi doesn't seem to be the type of guy meant to work for a big entertainment conglomerate. He's often said--bragged, even--that he's been fired from nearly every major animation studio in town. The enfant terrible of animation, he was even forced off "Ren & Stimpy," the cult-hit program he created for Nickelodeon. But now Kricfalusi has the perfect outlet: the World Wide Web. "I've had the idea for years to do animation on the Web," Kricfalusi said. "Free distribution.

Is the world ready for Jimmy the Idiot Boy? Jimmy, it seems, lives in a chicken coop behind the home of his uncle, who lets Jimmy out on occasion to learn how to "be a man." An unlikely sounding concept for a cartoon, perhaps, but bear in mind that Jimmy's creator also took an irascible Chihuahua and a dim, bloated cat to cult status, ratings success and, eventually, full-blown pop phenomenon.

When the cable TV channel Nickelodeon set out three years ago to build an original library of children's cartoons, it did so by breaking from tradition and hiring single animators with a personal vision rather than large studios where cartoons are factory produced. But one animator's vision, independent attitude and exacting work habits wound up being a little more than Nickelodeon bargained for.

The Nickelodeon cable-TV channel confirmed Friday that it has fired John Kricfalusi as producer and director of his cult cartoon creation, "The Ren & Stimpy Show," and replaced him with his former partner, Bob Camp. Nickelodeon, a unit of Viacom International Inc., will form an animation studio in Los Angeles to continue producing the series.

Behind the thick-framed black glasses, the salt-and-pepper beard and the shock of swept-back hair, John Kricfalusi has the rugged, squared-off looks of his idol, Kirk Douglas. On a bookshelf in Kricfalusi's Melrose office sits a signed photo of Douglas in his gladiator outfit from "Spartacus," along with a bust of the man Kricfalusi reveres as "one of the most subtle actors in Hollywood."

November 16, 1992 | BETH KLEID, Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press

Toon Talk: The International Animation Society/ASIFA Hollywood presented its 20th annual "Annie Awards" for excellence in the medium at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences on Saturday. "Beauty and the Beast" was named best feature, "The Simpsons" best TV series and Warner Bros.' "Hare Jordan" outstanding commercial.

As the former senior story editor of "Rugrats," I was naturally delighted to see your cover story on the show ("Talk About a Baby Boom," by Paul Brownfield, Aug. 16). I was even more delighted to see that, for once, Paul Germain received due credit as a main creative force behind the series. I'm sorry that so much of your article was devoted to behind-the-scenes squabbling on the show. Sure, the writers had some creative differences with Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo, and all of us together, as usual, had to battle the inexhaustible determination of network executives to make sure that nothing funny, intelligent or different ever gets on the air. "Rugrats" may have been what is termed a "writer-driven" show, but its charm derives in large part from the distinctive Klasky Csupo art style (there was a reason Paul chose this studio over numerous competitors to produce "The Simpsons")